Kleos Space announced this week that its second satellite cluster, the Polar Vigilance Mission (KSF1), has successfully completed a hardware critical design review milestone for a launch mid-year onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.
Conducted in the Netherlands by satellite developer ISISPACE, the milestone ensures that Kleos’ Polar Vigilance Mission satellites can enter the assembly and verification phase – an exciting stage leads to final integration, testing and delivery of the satellites for launch.
The KSF1 Polar Vigilance Mission satellites are scheduled for a mid-2021 launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, under a rideshare contract with Spaceflight Inc. The satellites will be launched into a 500- 600km Sun Synchronous Orbit, complementing Kleos’ Scouting Mission 37o orbit, which successfully launched in early November 2020 and are in the commission and test phase.
Kleos’ satellites will detect and geolocate radio frequency transmissions to provide global activity- based intelligence, enhancing the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of governments and commercial entities when tracking systems are defeated, imagery unclear or targets out of patrol range.
“We are excited to be progressing our second satellite cluster with ISISPACE – a leader in the small satellite market," Kleos Space CEO Andy Bowyer said. "Entering the assembly and verification phase of the satellites is a crucial developmental milestone and ensures we are on schedule to launch in mid-2021.
"The KSF1 satellite cluster will complement our Scouting Mission satellites, improving the value of our geolocation maritime intelligence data.”